Virtual cell is a roaming service available to wireless networks to improve roaming for stations that are connected. To do so, several access points use a common BSSID (basic service set identifier) so that transitions between access points, as a mobile user moves around a network, are mostly transparent to a station.
Problematically, multicast and broadcast transmissions received for distribution to a common BSSID are repeated at each of the included access points. More specifically, multicast transmissions to a set of particular stations or broadcast transmissions to all stations are completed by each access point. Each access point is consequentially consumed with resource allocations, even though some of the stations will receive the transmissions more than once. This is because access points are distributed around a physical location to prevent dead areas, while at the same time, creating areas of overlap between two or more access point ranges.
Therefore, what is needed is a robust optimization technique to reserve resources by refraining from transmitting the same packets from overlapping access point ranges, while also covering all intended recipient stations.